Substitutions in Minor Keys

Lesson 4/162 | Study Time: 5 Min

Course: Complete Piano

Substitutions in Minor Keys

All the types of substitution which apply to major keys (relative substitutions, scale tone triads or 7ths two degrees ahead in the key, dominant minor, and tritone substitutions) can be applied to minor keys as well. The main difference you will find is that when you start to go into the upper extensions of chords built on the harmonic and melodic minors, you will get alterations to the chords. Shown here are the chords resulting from substituting scale tone 7th chords two ahead for the standard scale tone 7ths of A melodic minor.

Here is a Latin Jazz style piece in A minor featuring extended chords. Learn it and then try improvising with the chords and phrasing. If you intend to play much Jazz, it is recommended that you jam with other musicians as often as possible, as interaction and improvisation are central to Jazz, and the human interaction is the most essential element in all music.

This piece by Bartok contains several time signature changes and may look difficult but it has a natural rhythmic flow to it. You could write it down and put counting numbers under the notes, but a better way to learn this kind of piece is to learn the feel of the rhythm and phrasing by playing it many times.

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1- INTRODUCTION 2- The Notes Middle C, D and E 3- Chord 4- The Quarter Rest 5- The Three Four Time Signature 6- The Notes A, B and C 7- The Dotted Quarter Note 8- The Bass Staff 9- Minor Chords 10- Arpeggios 11- Sharp Signs 12- The G Major Scale 13- Flat Signs 14- New Topic 15- Using the Whole Keyboard 16- The Eighth Rest 17- Minor Chord Inversions 18- More About Syncopation 19- The Sixteenth Note 20- Accidentals 21- Voice Parts 22- Using the Sustain Pedal 23- Scale Tone Chords 24- Intervals 25- How to Transpose 26- Minor Scales and Keys 27- More about Minor Keys and Scales 28- New Topic 29- The Minor Pentatonic Scale 30- Alternating Octaves 31- More about 12 Bar Blues 32- The Triplet 33- Improvisation 34- Seventh Chords 35- Grace Notes 36- Left Hand Pattens 37- 16th Note Studies 38- Playing in All Keys 39- The Key Cycle 40- Scale Tone Chord in All Keys 41- Dominant 7ths as Chord 42- Suspended Chord 43- Secondary Chord 44- Seventh Chord Types 45- Modes 46- Extended Chords 47- How to Learn a New Key 48- Altered Chords 49- Scale Tone 7ths in Minor Keys 50- Glossary of Musical Terms 51- Approach to Practice 52- Seventh Chords 53- The F Chord 54- The Tie 55- The C Major Scale 56- Playing Chords with the Right Hand 57- Five Finger Positions 58- Broken Chords 59- Higher C Position 60- Key Signatures 61- The F Major Scale 62- Chord Inversions 63- Syncopation 64- Slash Chords 65- Identifying Eighth Note Rhythms 66- Dynamics 67- Enharmonic Notes 68- Cut Common Time 69- B Diminished Chord Inversions 70- Interval Distances 71- New Chord in the Key of G 72- Tempo Changes 73- The Harmonic Minor Scales 74- Minor Pentatonic Scale in E 75- Learning the Blues Form 76- Swing Rhythms 77- G7 Chord Inversions 78- Sixteenth Note Triplets 79- More on Keys and Key Signatures 80- Playing Chords in All Keys 81- Primary Chord 82- 7th Chord Arpeggios 83- Add 9 Chord 84- Common Progressions 85- Inversions of 7th Chord Types 86- Modes in All Keys 87- Using 7th Chords to Create 9ths 88- Scale Tone Sevenths in D 89- Tension And Release 90- Higher Extensions in Minor Keys 91- Music Notes 92- Changing Chords 93- The Lead-in 94- The Octave 95- Playing Scales with Both Hands 96- Piano Voices and "Timbre" 97- Legato 98- Practicing Scales 99- C Major Chord Inversions 100- Doubling Notes in Chords 101- Turnaround Progressions 102- Pedal Tones 103- Volume Changes 104- 12 Bar Blues 105- Using Roman Numerals for Chords 106- Chord Construction 107- D Major Chord Inversions 108- Relative Major and Minor Keys 109- Harmonic Minor Scale Tone Chords 110- Blue Notes 111- The Shuffle 112- The C7 Chord 113- The Glissando 114- More about Relative Keys 115- Harmonizing Melodies 116- Secondary Dominants 117- Scale Tone Seventh Chords 118- Mode Formulas 119- Eleventh Chord 120- Extended Chords in D 121- Substitutions in Minor Keys 122- Learning Notes on the Keyboard 123- Songs With Chords 124- Key of C Major 125- G Major Chord Inversions 126- Accents 127- The Chromatic Scale 128- Passing Notes 129- Scale Tone Chords in G 130- B Minor Chord Inversions 131- The Melodic Minor Scale 132- The Blues Scale 133- The F7 Chord 134- The Trill and the Tremolo 135- Twelve Eight Time (<span class="symbolA">+</span>) 136- Guide Tones 137- Modal Tonalities 138- Suspended 7th Chord 139- A Final Solo 140- Fingers 141- F Major Chord Inversions 142- D Minor Chord Inversions 143- F Sharp Diminished Chord Inversion 144- For Further Study 145- Omitting Notes From Chords 146- Chord Substitution 147- Modulation 148- Sharp eleven Chord 149- Listening 150- How to Read Music 151- Tempo Markings 152- E Minor Chord Inversions 153- Building 7th Chord on Other Notes 154- Scale Tone 7th Pattern 155- Thirteenth Chord 156- Transcribing,Playing with Others 157- Note and Rest Values 158- Classical Studies 159- The D7 Chord 160- Sixth Chord 161- Chord Formula Chart 162- Altered Chords Chart

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Substitutions in Minor Keys